Power management schemes for data processing systems such as desktop computers allow the system to suspend power to one or more selected components during extended periods of inactivity. Systems “wake up” from power saving states when the user touches the keyboard or mouse, or some other user input device is actuated. In addition, “Wake On Lan” capability has been developed for many systems, allowing a system administrator to wake any system connected to a network and check the status of that system via the network.
The Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus standard is one architecture within which network power management support has evolved, allowing a system administrator to wake up systems on the network by sending a special, “magic” packet which a network interface card (NIC) installed in a PCI bus slot recognizes as a signal to wake up the machine from powered down states. However, some systems do not support Wake On LAN functionality (or “network-initiated power management recovery”), while others support such functionality but utilize different mechanisms. One result is that a network interface card intended for use in all such environments must support a variety of power and signaling requirements. Current solutions typically employ independent voltage regulators for each of the different mechanisms and/or power requirements, an expensive design.
There is, therefore, a need in the art for a power system for a network interface card that supports multiple power and power management signaling configurations without multiple power regulators.